The situation: With the Blue Jays needing a fifth starter, they surprisingly decided to tab the reasonable yet least experienced candidate for the job in Hutchison, a 21-year-old right-hander who has made just six career starts above Class A.
Background: While Hutchison was selected in the 15th round (by the Blue Jays) out of a Florida high school in 2009, he was seen as significantly more talented than that round suggests. Many teams saw him as too expensive or too strongly committed to college, but the Blue Jays deserve credit for properly gauging his signability; they took him late and inked him to a $400,000 bonus, which is more commensurate with a third-round selection.
Hutchison pitched well in his 2010 pro debut, but he had his true breakout campaign last year. After spending the first half of the year at Low-A Lansing, where he had a 2.64 ERA and 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings, he didn't skip a beat after a midseason promotion to High-A Dunedin, where he had a 2.74 ERA and 66 strikeouts in 62 1/3 innings. He finished the season with a trio of impressive starts at Double-A New Hampshire. Returning to the Eastern League to begin the 2012 season, Hutchison has a 2.16 ERA in three starts for the Fisher Cats.